WHO Heads Warn Gazans To Face Disease Problems, Starvation And Deadly Hygiene

Residents in Gaza were forced to flee due to war. (Source: UNRWA/Ashraf Amra)

JAKARTA - The head of the UN's world health agency on Thursday warned that "mixtures of disease, hunger and lack of cleanliness and sanitation" faced by people in Gaza could be deadly, when he called for an immediate ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas.

"Worship weakens the body's defenses and opens the door to disease," said World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a post on X.

"Gaza has experienced a surge in the rate of infectious disease outbreaks. Cases of diarrhea in children under the age of 5 have reached 25 times compared to before the conflict," Tedros said.

"A disease like this can be deadly for children who are malnourished, especially if health services are not functioning. We need a ceasefire now," he exclaimed.

Tedros' comments come amid repeated calls from UN agencies to stop aid efforts in Gaza.

Separately, UN Secretary-General Antulio Guterres warned on Thursday that fierce fighting was hampering efforts to help the people in Gaza. He called for "conditions that would allow large-scale humanitarian operations" to be "immediately rebuilt."

Earlier, the World Food Program on Wednesday said half of Gaza's population was starving and residents often did not eat all day long.

Meanwhile, UNICEF on Tuesday warned that children and families were "unsafe to be in hospital" in Gaza because the wider health care system in the region was on the verge of collapse.